He couldn't believe it
by wildfire-200
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. It had gone wrong. Now? Now they were just waiting and hoping against hope that their worlds, their hearts, would stay intact. This is my first attempt at a tearjerker. Rated M for mention of death, excessive swearing and violence. Please review, critisism is appreciated.


_**This is my first attempt at an angst tearjerker story so I'd like to hear your thoughts about it**_**. I should warn you that all I know about the DC universe and its characters comes from cartoons, movies and fan fiction. The chances of the characters being OOC are very high.**

** Listening to 'Slipped Away' by Avril Lavigne or 'Soldier' by Gavin DeGraw while reading this might help set the mood.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own DC comics or any of their characters.**

He couldn't believe it. No one could believe.

Batman had tipped them off about something suspicious going on at some stupid street, the name of which he couldn't remember. 'It should be empty tomorrow night. Even if it isn't, no killing,' he'd told them. At first Jason had refused it:

'Why can't you do this yourself?'

'I'm busy,' had been all the Bat said before the screen turned black. Jason had been furious.

'Who the hell does he think he is,' he'd yelled, 'We don't work for him. We're not gathering any intel for him!'

However, in the end it had been too tempting. The Bat did his damned best to avoid Jason and suddenly he was asking for help? So they'd decided to check it out.

It was supposed to be an easy mission. A fucking simple "In and out" mission. It hadn't turned out that way, far from it. They were supposed to just go in, get some intel and get the hell out of there. They hadn't counted on the bastards being armed to the teeth. They hadn't **fucking** counted on the explosive barrels. They hadn't thought that the sons of bitches would be **crazy**!

Nightwing had warned them. He'd told them it was dangerous. But Jason hadn't listened. He'd thought Dick was just pulling him back, trying to protect some low-life. As Jason went to leave the room Kori and Roy had followed his lead. Wing had followed them. He'd been desperate and Roy had thought that maybe they should listen to him. But before he could say anything Jason had already shot his brother down and moved forward. Roy had thought, "Hey, there are three of us. Chances are, Dick's gonna follow us. There's no way it can go wrong," and he'd kept his mouth shut. He'd been wrong. So very fucking **wrong**!

Dick had followed them. There'd been two men in the room. They shouldn't have been in the room. That should've been enough. The fact that **Batman's** information about the place had been wrong should've been enough for them to turn tail and report. But they hadn't. They'd gone in. After all, there were just two men.

Two minutes later they learned that those were two unstable men, **crazy** men. 30 seconds later, they realized that the mission had gone south. Richard had been the one to realize there were more than those two men in the room. He'd been the first to notice the guns in their hands. He'd yelled: 'GET DOWN!' It'd been pure reflex that kept them alive. However, Wing had drawn attention to himself. Bullets had rained down on him. He rolled away. Then? Then it had been just noise and colorful blurs and flashing lights. Everything had moved so quickly Roy had had trouble keeping track of what he'd been doing. He could hear his arrows flying through the air and hitting their mark. He could see the green blurs of Kori's bolts and hear Jason's guns going off. Then there'd been a flash of light, deafening noise and so much heat. He'd jumped and rolled and found better cover, away from the heat.

"Where's Wing," he'd thought. Then he'd heard the familiar soft thump of Dick landing on his feet somewhere beside him. He'd felt like something was off about the sound.

Not ten minutes since that first gunshot, things had started to settle. Roy could finally see things clearly again. Blood had been splattered on the ground and walls and only Nightwing's targets were still breathing.

Shortly they'd gathered in the middle of the room. Jason had been the only one who could see Dick clearly and he'd been the one to notice something was seriously wrong. He'd looked at Dick and his brow furrowed. Then his eyes had widened and he'd surged forward, hands outstretched to catch Richard's lean body as he collapsed. Jason had looked absolutely terrified: 'No, no, no.'; and when Roy moved to kneel next to them he'd looked up and told them to check if there were any more of those bastards outside.

Kori had been the one to carry out the order and Roy had simply moved behind the pair. Jason had been too distracted to see someone coming and Roy didn't like the idea of leaving them vulnerable. So he'd stayed and he'd watched as Jason pulled Dick close to his chest and brushed his lips against his forehead.

'Come on Blue-Bird. Don't you dare die on me!'

Jason's voice had been shockingly tender. Blue eyes had cracked open. They'd been tired and glazed over and there'd been so much pain in them.

He felt like he was suffocating at the memory. He'd never seen them like that before: Richard laying on the floor, pale, fighting to breathe, **broken and bleeding** and Jason, gentle, caring, tears in his usually cold and angry eyes. Wing hadn't said anything back, just gasped for air but it had looked like even that hurt him.

When Kori had come back and told them it was clear Jason carefully picked Dick up in his arms.

'He needs serious medical attention,' He'd murmured to himself.

'Contact the League!'

And now here they were, sitting, standing, just waiting for someone to walk in and tell them that Wing was alright, that the Bat-family hasn't lost its freaking **heart**.

Jason was leaning against a wall with an empty expression and crossed arms. His front was bloodied as were his hands. When he'd come in carrying a limp Nightwing, who'd kept drifting in and out of consciousness, Batman had been the first to greet them. Jason had brushed right past him like he hadn't even been there. The moment the Bat laid eyes on Dick his whole body had tensed, his jaw and fists clenched and his steel blue eyes turned colder than anyone had ever seen them before. He'd briskly turned to Jason and took Richard from his arms.

Roy had expected Jason to struggle but he'd just dropped his arms to his sides the moment Batman had Dick securely in his arms. By the time Bruce disappeared behind the steel doors leading to their medical lab, along with a few others who knew their way around said lab, several other heroes had gathered in the room. Nightwing had been close to a lot of people in the League.

He looked around the room. A rigid Oliver was leaning against a bare gray wall just looking but not really focusing on anything. Diana was sitting on an armchair in the corner, tears running down her face as she tried to brush them away. Clark stood behind her chair rubbing her shoulder, his blood-shot eyes focused on the door. He was obviously keeping track of what was happening in there. Wally was sitting on the floor, legs curled into his chest, hands over his face. His shoulders were shaking and Roy couldn't tell if he was crying or vibrating. Kori was just standing in the corner, near Diana and Clark, her eyes were closed and her clenched hands were glowing. Barbara was standing next to Wally. She was fighting to keep her blank mask from cracking, to keep herself together. It was slipping. Her face contorted every once in a while, the hand in front of her face was shaking.

Roy didn't really know what he looked like but he had the feeling he didn't want to look in a mirror. He just knew that he was afraid that Richard wasn't coming out of the room, that Jason was going to go on a killing spree, that Wally was going to break down, that Kori was going to lose control over her powers, that Oliver, Clark and Diana were going to lose it. But mostly, he was afraid of what it would do to the Bats.

Roy closed his eyes and reminded himself to **breathe**.

"There is no way he's gonna die," He repeated it like a mantra in his head because there was no way. Wing wasn't even thirty yet. There was **no way** fucking bullets or an explosion "or **whatever **the **fuck** it had been," would take Richard away from them! And besides, who would Roy talk to about his love life? Who was going to listen to him when he needed to vent at three o'clock in the morning? Who was going to listen to his drunken self as he gushed about his little girl on her anniversary? Who was going to be his rock? If Nightwing - If Richard died now, things would never be the same. His best friend would be gone. The one who'd chased suicidal thoughts out of his head was about to disappear forever and there was nothing he could fucking **do** about it.

"God damn it, **breathe**!"

Thinking was obviously not a good idea. He needed a distraction. Roy opened his eyes and looked at Jason. He was completely still, safe for the periodic clenching of his jaw. Roy took a closer look at him. Every muscle of his body was tensed, his face was flushed and his palms were pressed into the wall behind him. Oliver was in a similar position. The difference was that Jason's red eyes were fixed intently on Clark's face. Roy hadn't been the only one to notice the man's concentration.

Roy wasn't as fond of the idea as Jason was. He didn't want to see Superman's face if Dick ended up dead. He didn't want to see Clark's face crumble or tense as his world tipped to the side. Because that would be the moment Roy's own world would turn upside down and become a little bit darker. It would be the moment he'd lose his little brother. He wouldn't lose someone who felt like family. He couldn't. Not after… Just no.

"Come on Richard. Don't do this. Don't leave."

And suddenly, just like that, he felt like laughing. It was ridiculous. Nightwing was being treated. He wasn't dead. He wasn't dying. And yet they were acting as if he were. The Bat was with him and there was no way he'd let Nightwing's life slip away. There was no way Bruce was going to let his son die!

"But they've been in there for a long time. What if it's serious? What if Bruce can't do anything?"

Thinking really wasn't a good idea.

Roy felt something shift. He heard someone's breath hitch. He looked up and straight at Superman's face. Everyone in the room turned their heads to look at him - some with despair, others with hope. His eyes were glazed over, his face in an uncharacteristic grimace. Roy would always remember seeing Wally's face screw up and Barbara's mask shatter as she gasped and tears ran freely down her face. She was shaking her head, not wanting to believe it.

The door swished open. Batman emerged. His hands were covered in blood, the gloves were gone, as was the cape and there were dark blotches on the front of the Bat-suit. Barbara ran at him:

'No, no, no. Tell me it's not true. Tell me he's not dead!'

Bruce gripped her shoulders, pulled her to his chest and whispered in her ear.

'I'm sorry.'

'No, he can't be. **He can't be**!'

Barbara was sobbing, struggling against Bruce's grip, yelling in denial.

Bruce clenched his eyes shut and rested his cheek against her temple.

'He is.'

It was quiet but it broke their world.

**There was going to be more, but I decided this is enough for a first attempt. Thank you for reading and I hope it pulled at your heartstrings. **_**Please tell me what you thought of the story.**_


End file.
